U.S. Performed Nuclear Weapon Stress Test

The Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico last year conducted a stress test on a nuclear weapon, the Albuquerque Journal reported (see GSN, Jan. 27).

A B61 nuclear bomb was driven into the ground in what is described by the laboratory as “worst-case testing.”

Similar tests have been performed at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The March 2005 test at Sandia was more precise, said Marcey Abate, manager of the laboratory’s Stockpile Evaluation Department.

She added that the test was part of Sandia’s mission to ensure that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is reliable and safe.

The test was done at the Aerial Cable Test Facility located in the Manzano Mountains. The facility tests containers used to ship nuclear material by dropping them from great heights, simulating a violent crash (John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal, March 14).

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